Entabeni Systems Acquires Indy Pass, Founder Fish to Remain, Pass Sales Will Be Capped
Passholders will get physical pass for 2023-24, will include limited direct-to-lift capabilities
Entabeni Systems, a small tech company, has acquired Indy Pass, Ski Area Management (SAM) reports. Indy Pass founder and President Doug Fish will “continue to oversee the marketing and the branding and the Indy Pass resort recruitment,” Fish tells SAM.
Entabeni has run Indy’s technology base from its beginnings in 2019. "I wanted Doug to be involved indefinitely because he wanted to be involved and it was working well,” Entabeni founder and managing director Erik Mogensen told SAM. “So you'll see very little change there.”
Two big changes are planned, however: a cap on Indy Pass sales, and a physical pass, SAM reports. The former will help prevent overcrowding, while the latter will allow direct-to-lift access, presumably for Indy partners with RFID. Anyone who’s skied with an Ikon Pass knows how seamlessly that product works with partner resorts – slide up to the gates at Alta or Killington, and you breeze right through, even though Ikon parent company Alterra doesn’t own either of them.
Fish tells SAM that the pass could hit “150 to 160” partners before next ski season. Here’s the roster as of today:
Indy Pass has not yet released pricing and partners for 2023-24. Turnover has generally been low, with far more ski areas joining than leaving each offseason. However, it is nearly certain that Snow Valley – which Alterra purchased in January – will leave Indy. Indy partners generally sign one-year contracts, and there is no precedent for a ski area joining both Ikon and Indy (though nearly the entire Mountain Collective roster is also on Ikon).
I’ll have much more to say on the Indy Pass sale in the coming days. Stand by.
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Digging the use of the word "indefinitely" with regard to Doug's relationship with Indy Pass.
Congrats Doug, you created something great.
I'm very curious as to the 'why' of the sale. A small tech company buying a multi-product pass? A lot of smaller ski areas use Entabeni systems, so maybe they're looking at this as a marketing play to get to everyone on the indy pass.